I just wanted you to know that though I may not comment often. I do read often :)

As someone who used to work in a bakery, I know that people are VERY attached to the type of bread that they eat. You should have seen the looks on peoples faces (and sometimes the abusive comments) when we had sold out of their favourites! If only they had taken it as an opportunity to try something different. People are just so stuck in their ways, good challenge today :)

Kathryn, I must have limes&lycopene-specific precognition! I already have lebanese bread for a change for lunch today, malt loaf on the shopping list because I haven’t had it for years, and my mum just lent me her breadmaker last night!

I will have to take this challenge to find myself a recipe for the breadmaker using at least 3 different grains or seeds :) I may wander down the health food aisle and see what’s there. Ooh, that reminds me to put pepitas on the shopping list as well, your food groups post the other day reminded me how good they are. Hmm… pumpkin seed bread…?

It takes me a while to get through a loaf of bread, but when I do, I generally buy something different… most commonly alternating between rye, mixed grain and soy and linseed, plus I almost always have pita bread on hand… I don’t think I have ever tried pumpernickel so I’ll be on the look out for that over the next couple of days.

i am a bit limited in what breads i can eat (due to my digestive system not liking wheat) so my standard bread is Country Life rye (which you can buy at Coles). it freezes well and i only really eat it as toast so that works out well.
BUT you’ve just reminded me that i want to buy some mountain bread – i’m sure some of them are not wheat-based – and try making wraps with them. i find corn tortillas so DRY so i would love an alternative for burritos, etc.

thanks for another great post, Kathryn.

I actually did this yesterday! I picked out a lovely pumpernickel bread from our local bakery, packed with linseeds, sunflower seeds, dates and sultanas. It was delicious spread with mashed avocado.

Great series, Kathryn, I’m really enjoying it.

I did this today … before I read this post. I don’t eat much bread but I bake the same loaf almost every day for my family. Wheat/spelt blend. I didn’t have enough today and due to a removing the tip of my finger incident, couldn’t be stuffed baking more. So I splurged on a Phillippa’s green olive toscano. Then I almost died and went to heaven. I must plan ahead and make time to bake a greater variety of bread.

Hi everyone,

Interesting to hear the passion and gusto with which people talk about their love of bread! Ask folks to give up bread and you risk personal injury!

But gluten containing grains contain addictive opioids and are best avoided in my view. The truth is that grains are a recent addition to the human diet and are therefore not human foods.

It’s a complex problem in the modern world but I think best to at least elminate gluten grains and reduce grains as much as possible.

Better to simply cook up some quinoa or rice for your salad than go the bread route.

The problem I have here in the UK is getting ANY type of bread that doesn’t have gluten in it from a regular supermarket. Most of the speciality breads—oat etc, are STILL mainly wheat!

I think best to be VERY suspicious of ANY food you’re reluctant to let go of. I mean… would you have a problem giving up apples? :-)

~Mike.

Hi Kathryn,

Glad I found you. Great blog — and we have a lot in common! As for bread, from my blog name, you can see that I don’t eat any gluten, so my bread is made from teff, quinoa, bean flours, montina, amaranth, sorghum and an assortment of other “alternative” flours which happen to be more nutritious than wheat anyway. While I don’t eat a lot of bread, sometimes there’s nothing better than a farm-fresh poached egg on a piece of toasted montina bread. Yum!

In good health,
Melissa

ooh i’m all about sprouted grain bread. the brand i usually buy is called Ezekial, and they also make wraps and bagels. is that brand available in australia? i have also started seeing breads made with quinoa and other grains. but even though i know it isn’t good for me, sometimes a warm crusty italian bread is all i want….yum!

Hmmm, not sure about Mike’s give up all bread that contains gluten argument (sorry Mike!). I’ve never seen any convincing evidence that grains with gluten in are more addictive than those without. Perhaps refined white bread has an addictive quality to it for some people, but that’s nothing to do with the gluten (and as such I’d hate to class it in the same group as gluten containing but wholemeal and low GI spelt bread). I’m a big believer in wholegrains for their fibre and heart health benefits – people were eating millet in 4000 B.C, so not such a recent addition to our human diet.

Anyway, my two-penneth on the bread matter – I’m a big fan of wholemeal bread that also has plenty of seeds in it. I’ve noticed recently that there is a massive variance between brands in how many calories this kind of bread has – up to 50 kcal per slice (partly due to size). It’s so easy to shave 100kcal of your sandwich just by a little bit of label reading.

Hi Sophie,

No need to be sorry :-) There’s so many viewpoints on all things diet related eh?

Is 6000 years a long time in genetic terms? That’s debatable I guess but when you think “300 generations” it doesn’t seem that long. A recent review of celiac disease put the prevelance at 1 in 133 but also stated that it remains largely undiagnosed. These are shocking statistics in my view, and to me, show how badly adapted to grains we are.

Gluten can damage villi and considering how undiagnosed celiac disease is I think it wise for folks to be vary careful with gluten, esp if they feel below par and don’t know why.

I believe the opioids ARE very addictive and that’s why folks just will not give up bread! But even if I’m wrong, grains have many other problems associated with their use—such as anti-nutrients and associations with autism and mental illnesses. I believe grains are hiding behind a whole heap of suffering.

Gluten is actually EVIL :-)

oh and millet has no gluten.

Best wishes
~Mike.

I have to go with Mike on all this, and there are physiological reasons some of these contrary grains become addictive to some people. We’ve been around for about 500,000 years and gluten-containing grains for about 10,000 years. We didn’t evolve to be eating gluten. The “toxic” portion to people with celiac disease and gluten intolerance is a long and difficult-to-digest amino acid chain (33 AA long). It’s the storage protein in wheat (gliadin). Spelt is a derivative of wheat, therefore contains gluten. Wheat, barley, and rye all contain similar amino acids that cause problems for many people. Blah, blah, blah — I could go on about this, but I just “met” all of you and don’t want to scare you off. :-)

And Mike, the numbers are now down around 1 in 100 people in the US have celiac, with about 95% of them undiagnosed. More in Finland and some other countries.

I don’t tend to vary the kind of bread I eat, as there is only one kind I can get here that contains 100% whole grains (the others are 75% or more refined white flour, with various other grains, seeds etc. added). Yes, folks, I don’t live in the first world… What I tend to do is alternate between bread and dried wholemeal crackers (100% stoneground whole wheat). I do also eat other grains, of course. What are your thoughts, Kathryn, on bread versus wholemeal crackers, healthwise?

Gwyneth: one of the breads I sometimes buy has pumpkin seeds in it, and they’re delicious. They go a little bit soft, but add a lovely extra texture to the bread. Would love to hear how your bread making adventures go.

Lindsey: check the Mountain Bread ingredients – I have a feeling most of them contain a smidgen of wheat. I don’t know if you’ve seen the Tannour brand of round flat breads? They come in all different varieties, including gluten free. But you do need to use them up quite quickly, as they go dry after a couple of days of the packet being open. They also make good pizza bases.

It seems many of you are already thinking variety. Buying different breads even before the challenge.

And Dani: a finger removing incident doesn’t sound good? Are you okay?

Melissa: I haven’t even heard of half the flours you’re using – teff, montina, sorghum?? No idea what any of them are. Sounds like you have a lot more choice than here in Australia. Thanks for letting us know about that.

Michelle: I haven’t really investigated sprouted bread. They used to be like two tonne bricks and go off really quickly, so I got burned a couple of times. But I should go back and have another try. I know there’s a shop near my clinic which has sprouted bread, so I’ll pick up some this week.

Bread certainly ignites some passions!

From my perspective, I have no problems with most people including bread in their diet, gluten and all.

There is definitely a portion of the community with real problems digesting and absorbing gluten. And there are also definitely a number who are undiagnosed. Do we need more awareness and better screening rates. Yes.

But this doesn’t translate for me into an argument that everyone should stop eating it.

Bread is a foundation food in many, many cultures. It’s a staple, a basic of our diet. And I think the strong reaction comes when anything messes with that core foodstuff. You’d get the same reaction in some cultures if you suggested giving up rice. It’s the same reaction which can be seen in the Whopper Freakout adverts.

A few years ago I underwent some allergy investigations – I did the withdrawal and challenge regime, where you remove a whole load of foods from your diet and test reactions. For me, not eating gluten or wheat was easy. My freakout came from having to give up tomatoes. They are a foundation of my diet, particularly in the tinned form.

I’m loving sprouted essene bread at the moment. Only just tried it for the first time recently having long been put off by its suspiciously brick-like appearance and heft. Available in multiple grain “flavours” in fridge at local organic store. At its best toasted, I think. Delicious spread with nut butter or chopped into fingers to serve with soup.

I know millet is gluten free Mike, that’s why I mentioned it – you seemed to be suggesting that people should avoid grains in general…

I’m with Kathryn on the gluten question. The idea that we should all avoid a food because some of us can’t digest it doesn’t seem wise. Food should be about enjoyment as well as nutrition. We haven’t banned nuts simply because they are (seriously!) unsuitable for certain people – people like to eat them and they can contribute to a balanced diet. Undiagnosed coeliac disease in the population at large is a real problem but we would be better off trying to educate the public and doctors about the range of symptoms and presentations of coeliac disease than suggesting that bread is evil for everybody and should be avoided.

Bread is a major source of important nutrients in so many countries. Yes you can eat a balanced diet without it but it takes work – there would also be some major public health issues to deal with if people stopped eating bread and other grain products.

Katheryn, Sophie (et al),

I totally agree — increasing awareness of celiac disease and gluten intolerance is the key (and my goal). People who have no problem with gluten-containing grains need not worry, but many people do and don’t realize it. Dr. Peter Green, who ironically is from Australia, is one of “our” top celiac docs here in the US. He’s at Columbia University in NYC and is one of the foremost researchers and advocates for celiac awareness. Funny, charming guy as well.

I’m a big proponent of “alternate” grains, many of which have far more nutritional value than wheat anyway. Amaranth, quinoa, and teff are incredibly high-quality proteins. Teff is an Ethiopian grain; the smallest grain in the world. It has a wonderful and delicate taste. A touch sweet-tasting almost. I also use mesquite flour on occasion — another sweet and unique flour. Nut flours are also good substitutes.

As for bread being a major source of important nutrients around the world, that’s definitely true. Teff is Ethiopia’s bread grain, montina (Indian rice grass) and mesquite were used by Native American Indians. Quinoa by the South American’s and so on. Most of these are ancient grains, having served important roles in nutrition over evolutionary times. There’s a sad part to all this though — one of the highest rates of DQ2 (one of the genetic markers for celiac disease) is found in a refugee group in Africa. Because of a bunch of factors, plus the genetic component, these people have a very high rate of celiac disease because of the abundance of humanitarian aid in the form of wheat. If we could come up with some alternative grains for humanitarian use, that would be so important. Teff might be a much better choice for a lot of reasons.

Sorry, I’m spiraling. :-)

Kathryn, I have a grain comparison profile chart that I have created to use with my clients — to show them vitamin and mineral comparisons of some alternative grains compared to wheat. It’s amazing how much better most of these other grains are, at least in certain categories. Would you like me to send you a copy? I’m most happy to share it with you. You’ll find it interesting. I also did a post on alternative flours and one on the basics of wheat — if you’re interested in that information, I’ll send you the links.

Take care everyone!
Melissa

I definitely choose the gluten-free bread option, but only because that is what I can eat. I long for “real” bread options, though in general, I think I have been able to achieve nearly the same results while keeping the bread GF. But, I agree with mixing up the types of grains you eat. GF or not, I love to vary the ingredients and use things like Teff, Flax, Chia, and much more.